


With This Ring, I Thee Wed...

by itsjustkdp



Category: Golden Girls
Genre: Declarations Of Love, Developing Relationship, Dorks in Love, F/F, Falling In Love, Feelings Realization, Female Friendship, Femslash, Gay, I Love You, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Idiots in Love, Love, Love Confessions, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Realization, Relationship(s), Revelations, Same-Sex Marriage, True Love, Wedding Fluff, Wedding Rings, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:47:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27880086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsjustkdp/pseuds/itsjustkdp
Summary: Repeating something out loud during a wedding can sure lead to something that just feels right... and better.
Relationships: Rose Nylund & Dorothy Zbornak, Rose Nylund/Dorothy Zbornak
Kudos: 8





	With This Ring, I Thee Wed...

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! I came back from schoolworks, and now I wrote this.
> 
> So, enjoy this fluff! :3

She's here. They're all here. Standing before the altar of Dorothy and Lucas' wedding.

And when it comes to weddings, Rose's imagination goes wild. She does love weddings and being there for the couple to be married and live the happiest life they could both muster up for the long-run. From the entourage to the beautiful reception to be held after the couple's most glorious moment of being one. Together. Planning everything when it comes to the bridesmaids and the brides-men, the invitations, decorations, and overall theme of it all. For the naïveté, the best part of weddings is not being one of the invited, but of being the bridesmaid—perhaps maid of honor, if she ever thought about it—of the bride...

That bride being Dorothy Zbornak, the woman whom she fell in love with... but never got the chance to confess this to her.

Rose even thought about it, too: falling in love with the person but never having the confidence to say those three words. What takes the cake is that she's in love with a woman. A woman who's strong, brave, intelligent, and caring for the friends whom she cherishes the most. Sure, having feelings for Dorothy was a shocker for the naïveté, but it was too good to be true. Whenever she's around the teacher, she couldn't help but get flustered at every time she gets corrected, whacked with a newspaper, or even being said to shut up. Although, on the bright side, she gets to learn: learn how to tell stories, how to not annoy someone with dumb questions—she still does, though, and even as far as to telling her St. Olaf stories in a span of just a few minutes instead of an hour or so. She even realizes as well that all these things—all these learnings—came from Dorothy herself. She had to learn it the hard way.

She can't deny it either that every single time that whenever the moment between her and the teacher felt intimate, she felt the urge to just kiss her. Maybe test out the waters and feel Dorothy's kiss for the first time. Wrap her own arms around her neck and pull her close, and perhaps feel Dorothy kiss her back and just caress her plump and blushing cheeks. Though, something at the deeper ends of her mind bring her back to reality, making her chicken out and just leave the teacher be with her usual motions, taking a breather and clutching her fist and bringing it to her chest after the sudden realization that she is making a rather unusual move for Dorothy to notice. Every day, Rose tries her damn hardest to bottle up these feelings to herself and just go through the motions of her own life: doing her job, hanging out with her and the two other girls during the nighttime, and do her own usual hobbies. 

Then, the wedding day came, and frankly, Rose never felt so crushed in her whole life just from seeing Dorothy with another person to spend the rest of her days with, which left her to just imagine if she herself were to be next to the teacher.

Everything would feel bliss, she thinks, her imagination playing scenes of her walking down the aisle and seeing the woman she loved standing and crying. Her bouquet of white roses giving her the aroma of pleasantry, the smell soothing to her senses. The guests standing up and looking at her in awe, and Blanche and Sophia smiling warmly at her. The scene would look interesting too for Rose if Dorothy were to wear a white suit that is rather large for her, but really suits her physique. The moment was just... divine.

They would just follow along with the ceremony. The words that the priest would say, listening along to the ever so usual beginning lines of "We are gathered here today..." The wedding vows, ones that express so lovingly about wanting to spend time with your spouse for better and for worse, in sickness and in health, and parting when the day of their passing would arrive—that part sent Rose chills down to her spine a bit, but she didn't really mind. Finally, they would move on to the fundamental part of the ceremony: the exchange of the wedding rings. Rose remembered back when she was about to be married to Charlie, she felt the ring slip through her finger, the gold metal smoothly gliding until it stops to the other end of her finger, and saying the words...

"With this ring, I thee wed..."

"Rose!"

A nudge on her side and a mutter of her name sent her back to reality. It was Blanche, snapping her back to her senses. Rose looked at the Southern belle in panic, then back to Lucas and Dorothy who are now looking at the naïveté in confusion. She then looked back at the guests, who are also looking at her. Her heartbeat now quickens, her lips now quivering and trying to come up with an excuse or an apology for the sudden interruption of her voice. When Rose just looks at Dorothy only, her world stops when she felt something sliding down her cheek.

A tear.

"Excuse me."

* * *

_Rose, you're such an idiot!_

She just walked and walked, her heels giving her feet pains that made her wince from time to time. The naïveté had nowhere to go, and all she kept thinking about were the times she and Dorothy spent together. From the moment they first met in Blanche's wonderful abode, then to the moment where they first heard Rose's St. Olaf story about The Great Herring War. Those times where they both cannot sleep as they eat cheesecake and talk about things that are for the sake of conversation. Dorothy's birthday escapade with her and Blanche at Mr. Haha's Hacienda. Even as far as to the time where Dorothy held her close as they both danced for the sake of that $1,000 cash prize at the dancing charity marathon. 

It just all happened at once that all of those memories now turn into hurtful ones. So painful that it made Rose's chest tighten and her breathing unstable.

She then reached to a spot a tad far from the church that seems to be a ledge of some sort. A balcony. Before the tiled edges was a fountain, the statue of a water-bearer pouring a jug of water to the pool that surrounded it all. Rose desperately catches her breath once she sat down at the marble edges of the fountain, her tears beginning to stream down with no sign of ever stopping. The air around her suddenly feels thin, and her heart just felt like it crashed to the floor, shattering into a million pieces. The naïveté sobs nonstop, her hands now covering her face from the pain of it all. She suddenly comes to a state of shock and realization: Rose wants Dorothy. She wants to spend the rest of her days with her, not only as friends, but married. Her feeling of regret—of her not telling the teacher that she loves her—sinks into her like a knife. It felt like a stab wound that would leave a deep scar in her. 

And she has no choice but to live with that scar... until the day of her last breath.

"Rose..?"

She slowly looks up... Dorothy.

Rose fishes for her handkerchief from the pockets of her dress and quickly wiping off her tears, careful enough not to smudge her eyeliner, "Shouldn't you be inside the church marrying Lucas?"

Dorothy just ignores her question as she carefully kneels down to reach her level, gently grasping both of her petite hands with her larger ones, "You're trembling..."

"T-That's none of your concern. You should be back in the church and finishing up the ceremony with Lucas."

"I'm aware of that, Rose."

"Then why did you follow after me!?" The naïveté yells out of the blue, her voice beginning to be as loud as she could muster, "What—did you just decide to call the ceremony off just to tell me that it was idiotic of me to just blurt out loud what the priest said?"

"Rose, I—"

"Matter-of-fact, I've been an idiot my whole life, and it hurts because you were there to warn me or even scold to me about it!!" Rose then stands up, gesticulating in the air while Dorothy just looks up at her.

"Rose—"

"I'm such an idiot that I didn't get the chance to confess to you that I love you!!!"

Silence.

Rose takes a deep breath before continuing, her head bowed down as her fists clench, "Every time that I wanted to tell you that I love you, I chicken out! I don't know why, but you were the reason why I wanted to at least become a bit smarter and a bit more aware of what I do and what I say, not to mention that my St. Olaf stories became shorter to tell because of you... I get butterflies in my stomach around you, and... I just... I now regret the fact that I can no longer have the chance to say those words to you before all of this happened, with you marrying Lucas and all that."

Dorothy slowly stands up, looking at her as she continues to listen to her.

"Gee, it's funny," a sob alongside a shake of her head, "I just told you that I love you right by the moment that you are getting married. Now I feel like a total idiot to say that... and I fear that I'll probably let our friendship go and just move on. Move on from you."

"Rose... They all knew right from the start."

The naïveté looks at the teacher in confusion, "W-what?"

Dorothy lifts her veil back before gently holding her hands once more, "They knew that I also had feelings for you. Blanche, Ma, even Lucas knew through Blanche's letters that she would write to him about us four."

"W-what are you telling me then?"

"To be frank, honey," the teacher takes a deep breath before her first ever tear slides down her cheek, "I think _I'm_ the idiot throughout all of this. Just like you, I also chickened out. I regret those times where I would tell you to shut up or where I would just whack you with a newspaper just hard enough, thinking that it's the way for you to get back to your senses. You made me realize that... I truly cared for you. I really do. Even if your St. Olaf stories were long as hell, something at the back of my mind wanted me to listen more to your stories. I felt sad when your stories became a bit shorter, until I knew that all of this was because of me; you did all of that _for_ me. It all made sense that you did _all_ of that because you love me... and I love you, Rose. It took me long to realize that I actually do."

"But... you're getting married to Lucas," Rose shakes her head, "I don't think loving each other is possible."

"That's why I called the ceremony off: I don't want to marry a guy whom I just met months ago. I want to marry a girl whom I first met years ago, whom I trust the most, and whom I ever so wanted to love and spend the rest of my days with."

Dorothy then kisses Rose's hands, smiling warmly at her as she sheds another tear, "Rose, I love you so much... and I want you to marry me."

"Dorothy... for real?"

The teacher nods, "For real. Plus, we're already dressed for the occasion, so why waste the moment?"

The naïveté gasps, sheds more tears, and finally bursts into giggles as she plunges forward to tightly hug Dorothy, sending them both into twirling each other around, "Yes, yes, yes! I've been waiting for so long to hear that you love me, and to think that I'll marry you—Oh, I must be dreaming!"

The teacher laughs with her a bit before setting her down, caressing her cheek with her hand, "Oh darling, you're not dreaming. This is all real."

"And now may we have the rings, please?"

Dorothy and Rose look to their side, both in shock when they see the priest approaching them, alongside Lucas, Blanche, Sophia, and a couple of guests—some of them vanished, but they didn't really care.

"Oh, father, I hope the objection is valid," Dorothy says to the priest, "It's a last-minute sort of realization."

"Don't worry, father," Lucas approaches and pats Dorothy's shoulder, "I knew and understood how she felt beforehand."

"Well, if that's the case," the priest clears his throat before standing between the fountain and both Rose and Dorothy, the guests surrounding them, "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Dorothy Zbornak and..."

"Rose Nylund," the naïveté mutters.

"Rose Nylund," the priest repeats, "in marriage."

They went on with the ceremony, but this time it just feels right. Rose and Dorothy look at each other with true love and warmth, smiling at each other as they both listen to the priest before saying "I do" to each other.

"Now that we have witnessed them exchange their wedding vows, may we _now_ have the rings, please?"

This is it, the moment Rose anticipated for: the time that she'll actually repeat the words of the priest.

"With this ring I thee wed  
and with it I bestow  
all of the treasures of my mind, heart and hands.

I give you this ring  
as a reminder  
that I will love, honor, and cherish you,  
In all times,  
In all places.   
And in all ways, forever."

And just like that, after her and Dorothy's exchange of rings...

"I now pronounce you, married! Rose, you may kiss the bride."

"Really!?" Rose says, her eyes widened as the priest nodded and laughed for a bit.

Rose turns back to Dorothy, who's smiling at her.

"Oh, Dorothy!!!"

"Mmf—!"

Their kiss was bliss, with the both of them laughing and smiling through it all. Dorothy managed to carry Rose bridal style as they initiated their second kiss, with Rose caressing her cheeks just like she wanted to—with no signs of chickening out this time. The guests thrive in cheers and applause, Blanche and Sophia—even Lucas—clapping and cheering really hard for them both.

“I love you, Dorothy Zbornak. I truly love you.”

”And I love you too, Rose Nylund. I love you very much.”

The ceremony was something that Rose—and Dorothy—hoped for each other, and they finally did it at long last.


End file.
